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Updated: Apr 20, 2026

Bladder Smooth Muscle Strip Contractility as a Method to Evaluate Lower Urinary Tract Pharmacology
Published on: August 18, 2014
Reactivity of diabetic urinary bladder to the cholinesterase inhibitor neostigmine
Seham Mustafa1, Hishaam N Ismael2
1Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Nursing, Public Authority for Applied Education & Training, Safat, Kuwait.
Objective:
To examine the effects of neostigmine, an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor that has been used to treat impaired bladder emptying on diabetic rat urinary bladder smooth muscle.
Methods:
Rat urinary detrusor muscle strips were suspended in organ baths containing Krebs' solution for isometric tension recording. Streptozotocin-diabetic (12 weeks) bladder tissue activity compared with control was assessed by using electrical field stimulation (EFS) in the presence and absence of the cholinesterase inhibitor, neostigmine.
Results:
EFS-induced contractions; a major part of it is cholinergic in origin. Neostigmine significantly enhanced EFS-induced contractions in diabetic strips than control at all frequencies. Neostigmine caused concentration-dependent contractions of control and diabetic bladder tissues, which were completely abolished by atropine. Carbachol-induced bladder contraction was significantly reduced in diabetes.
Conclusion:
In diabetes mellitus, cholinesterase modulation (increase) may play a role in the development of inadequate bladder contraction, seen in later stage diabetic bladder dysfunction.
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